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The opening strum of Metallica's "Turn the Page" began with a pop from the crowd and a darkened arena, all fans turning to the stage to see what should be a renewed and refreshed Hiro Shin-Mozas. Before the show, the news had gotten out that Blackjack was back in prison and the long national nightmare was again on pause. Hiro would emerge from the back quicker than usual, adjusting his ring coat and stopping to stand atop the stage looking out in to the always dazzling sea of fans. The snaps of flashes from cameras and phones dizzied Hiro if only for a moment, giving way to him raising his arms and pyro shooting from the sides of the stage with a crashing boom. It was new to Hiro to have pyro in his entrance, but in an attempt to change his fortunes, to bring out the best warrior within him against Nuke, he decided to give it a go.

The Ethnic Enigma slaps hands with a few fans before ascending the steps and stepping into the ring, his mind focused on one thing: climb the turnbuckle. He heads over to a corner and softly grabs the top rope, looking up at the blinding lights in the ceiling as he steps up onto the middle ropes, throwing up his arms and demanded the fans "COME ON!" and in return, he hears quite the cheer line. He hops from the turnbuckle down to the mat and pulls away his jacket, tossing it out to ringside as his song dies down, fading away and thrusting an appreciative crowd into the forefront. They cheered both men wildly, the most die-hard of fans thinking they'd never get this high profile Nuke Fusion and Hiro Shin-Mozas contest. Hiro would pull on his elbow pads, yanking them into place as he worked towards Nuke, finally reaching his re-connected friend and offering him a handshake before their match got started -- the ultimate showing of respect.

Hiro squeezed Nuke's hand perhaps a little tighter than his opponent had, letting him know in doing so that this moment meant so much to him. He stepped back a few times from the elder Fusion and looked down at his hand as he did, a burning feeling in his grip. While Nuke's hand was no longer there...the feeling of the blade he received earlier in the night with Fusion etched into both sides still felt as if it were there. Hiro had squeezed it so hard when stabbing the walls of his locker room, the first time he'd stabbed anything since his days in BBW. It was a frightening feeling...one that he gave into so quickly from the mix of fear and anger he felt in that vulnerable backstage moment.

He had to shake that feeling free from his hand though, as the ref suddenly called for the bell and got the match underway. Now, using that same hand, Hiro would throw it up and keep his other hand to the side, looking to begin a test of strength with Nuke to begin the contest!

Hiro and Nuke found themselves in that same old dance, tale as old as time -- their hands locked, not in the classic collar and elbow but the just as classic test of strength. They found their other hands locked as well and pushed into one another for a moment, but Nuke began to exhibit some tremendous strength. Hiro's feet dragged inch by inch backwards as his entire body was pushed, but he wouldn't allow Nuke to keep that momentum for long. The Ethnic Enigma attempted to rear back while keeping their hands interlocked, and tried to slam his forehead into Nuke's looking to rock them both a little bit right as the match began!

Hiro's forehead instantly began to throb -- it was a shot he'd been delivering of late, throwing out his hard, callused head with an attempt to rock the opponent. He barely stayed on his feet, but kept them planted long enough for eat a knee to his gut and double him over. Hiro's eyes popped from his head as he started to cough out trying to suck air back into his gullet. Nuke knew what to do, despite any pain, he was a professional and far too powerful to let a single headbutt crush him this early. The fans were super into it of course -- violence got the ball rolling with any of the fans, but especially between these two friends tonight it hit even harder. If they were starting off like this, where would they end up?!

Hiro was just barely filling his lungs back up with some tasty air as Nuke had begun his return to domination -- he grabbed hold of the Ethnic Enigma but the arm and sent him on a collision course across the ring at the ropes. Hiro turned and bounced off, beginning a quick return to his starting point. However, in an act of calculation, he ducked under the stuck out arm of Nuke and turned once more, bouncing from the ropes behind the God and attempting to should tackle right into him -- bringing both men down if successful!

Hiro and Nuke colliding was met with a hot reaction from the raucous crowd, both men sprawling out across the canvas like some sort of interpretive painting. As avant garde as it was, the beautiful work of art would not remain that way for long as Hiro and Nuke would both stir within moments of hitting the ground. The Ethnic Enigma wore the same slightly ached look that his opponent did, his body hurting just as much from their meeting minds moments prior and the conference of chests that took them both down. Hiro heaved a few times to get air into his body as he locked eyes with the elder Fusion, both men perhaps feeling their age if only just a moment, but lord knew that they'd be standing again before the ref could even begin his count.

Hiro joined Nuke in starting to roll over, but for Hiro, he found himself falling to his back again as he moaned out in some pain he could feel in his collarbone. It seemed colliding with Nuke may have shaken him to his core a little more than he thought it would. Though, to make things worse, he took his mind off the match for a millisecond -- and that freed up the Prodigy turned Redeemer to grab hold of his arm and attempt to lock him in the Anaconda Vice! Despite the pain and pressure applied to his collarbone as Nuke contorted his arm and yanked, Hiro would scream out and began to thrash out his arm, trying to connect with a few stray slaps to Nuke's face and head in an attempt to quickly escape it -- his match with Avari showed him how dangerous the Anaconda Vice still was after all this time, he needed out big time.